A 40-year-old man has been remanded in custody to crown court following an alleged sexual assault close to Worcester city centre.

Jeremy Anderson, aged 40, of Wellesley Court, Bransford Road, St Johns, is charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of attempted rape.

At his appearance at Worcester Magistrates Court on Friday, Anderson, wearing a brown sweatshirt, appeared impassive and spoke only to confirm his name, address and date of birth.

The court heard that the attempted rape charge was one that can only be heard at crown court.

An application for bail by Anderson's solicitor, Mark Lister, was refused.

He was remanded in custody to appear at crown court on January 15.

The alleged offence occurred on Tuesday, December 12, at about 5.30am, when the victim was walking under the railway viaduct at the Cattlemarket car park off Croft Road.

Anderson was arrested after police released CCTV images of the attack.